When do the streaming numbers become relevant to you? When does being on that music blog really matter?
Releasing new music is an incredible feeling. I’ve always considered it like a drug you can’t quit. The process of creating and recording a song is tremendous fun. Naturally, the artist wants the whole world to hear their wonderful art. Sadly, music is very subjective and your song may not be as well received as you had hoped. But this is all a part of the process! If taken constructively, this will help you develop as an artist. So your song isn’t a top 10 hit, who cares? Nothing worth doing is easy and if you truly want to achieve something special then you better believe it’s going to be difficult. So this is where you make a decision to quiet literally “face the music” or hide behind the hollow shades of your ego. As we know, there are those who will happily take your $10 to write a blog about your new song. Looking to boost your Spotify? You can pay $400 to make sure it gets into the hands of large playlists. What do you know! Your song has 10,000 streams and is on 10 different indie music blogs. But you’re out $500 and no one really cares that much about your song. As someone who has been down this road, let me be the first to tell you. If you have to pay money for someone to appreciate your art then it is not really genuine. Simply speaking, a good song is a good song. In the end, whether we musicians like it or not, this is just fake publicity designed to boost our egos. It took me time to realize this, but I do believe it to be the truth. However, let it be said that there are still genuinely good blogs out there. There are still the Pitchforks and Rolling Stones of this world. Real streams from real fans, radio play and record sales. These are all very important. But the difference between the fake and real is obvious.
So what is the lesson in all of this?
Try not to get caught up in the world’s perception of your music as a numerical entity. There are times to be proud, but realistically it’s not helping you or your music by boasting your single to prove a point. Let the point be proven itself. The pre-release of any musical project is important, but never spend a dime for artificial praise. Share your art with the opinions that matter to you. As a good friend once told me, 100 real fans is far better than 1,000 fake listeners.
Aaron Wylder
@aaronwylder
Photo: Hailey Krakana
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